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On the flight back to Manila from the UK, I'd lost a day. It's not only about sitting in the plane for over 12 hours, but also because Manila time is 7 hours ahead of British standard time -- which effectively means I'd lost 23 hours of my life just transiting from one country to another.

As if lost time is not enough, the thing that's really a bitch about international travel is the jetlag. It had been more than two weeks since I'd arrived and I'm still struggling to get up before 10 o'clock in the morning and falling asleep by midnight.

How do you recover from jetlag when you've lost a day?

I'd done all the usual stuff like setting the alarm early (I just fall back asleep after turning it off), reducing my caffeine intake and just relaxing an hour before bedtime -- they didn't really work for me. I now have to take drastic measures to reset my body clock -- pills. *sigh* I only really need to start falling asleep early enough, to wake up early as well.

I actually find it easier to recover from jetlag when flying towards the West -- one only needs to stay up late to adjust to the time. But coming back to the East is hard, as it means waking up earlier. This is not easy, especially for non-morning people like me.

If you're in serious need of jetlag recovery tips, you can look them up here.

If you're a diabetic, I believe it would be best to keep away from this post.

I remember a post I'd written about 2 years ago when I went to nose about Manila Pen's chocolate buffet. It was simply out of this world! However, I had no idea my chocolate obsession would be taken further than that -- I'd managed to get myself entangled into a chocolate Easter egg making class at Nottingham University (oh yes, Robin Hood's county) while in the UK some time ago.

We weren't taught how to make chocolate, exactly, as they were already pre-made. We were basically taught how to temper, mold and put fillings in them.

I was seriously thinking about stealing that chocolate bowl, which I could fill with my chocolate truffles. Dangerous thoughts!

We were all basically rolling in chocolate that evening.

I thought I was a mess, until I saw these two girls!

There's no room for making fasyon in the kitchen people! You better forget about it! (The uncle dressed me in oversized jackets and aprons for the occasion and I wasn't about to go out of the kitchen looking like this)

After decorating the molds, tempering the chocs and filling the molds, the chocolate is left to cool down.

If there’s one thing I absolutely hate about being an adult, it would be the tax thing. There’s this horrible overall feeling that part of your hard-earned money goes to a government that you’re not happy with. It is totally “taxing” (pardon the bad pun).

As I work from home, I get jibed by people all the time about how I’d been successfully dodging taxes. That is not true at all. First of all, there’s VAT. And if I really want to be a part of society, I have to pay my income taxes just like everybody else. Income tax return sheets are required now for visa processing and as I like to travel, it’s really a no-brainer. Plus, if I end up paying late, I need to get a tax extension form too, just like everybody else.

Oh, I do hate it -- especially when you try to earn more, because you also get taxed more. It’s a vicious cycle!

I remember my Dad telling me when I was little “You’re so skinny that if you were made into a kite, you’d fly.”

Ok, maybe he didn’t say it quite like that (my Dad’s English is terrible, for starters), but that was the general idea. I was so skinny that my body could have been used as a kite frame – all that was needed was papel de japon (or Japanese paper, as we call it).

My skinny days are long-gone, though. I’d successfully put quite a bit of junk in my trunk when puberty kicked in, but those days of flying kites make me a bit nostalgic. Video games were for rich kids and those of us who were “have-nots” must make do with just our imaginations.

Unfortunately, I didn’t really get much kite-flying instruction in those days. It was just a lot of got-kite-will-run-with-it kind of stuff. No stunts, just straightforward flying and if your kite gets caught in the electric wires and you can’t get to them no more, then just make a new one.

Nowadays, people can get DVD supplies for almost any hobby. The Prism Freestyle Pilot DVD makes for a good start in getting some serious stunt kite flying, for those who want to take kites up to a different level.

We all have our lucky days. The day I flew back home to Manila is one of my luckiest ever.

I was nervous checking in at Heathrow Airport in London, as my luggage is overweight (about 12 damn kilos over). I was trying to check in 2 suitcases (incidentally, the smaller one was filled with shoes -- no joke! I'm Filipino and definitely Imeldific to a degree). For my hand luggage, I hid my netbook in my handbag and my SLR was slung over my shoulder.

But instead of asking me to pay over $400 dollars for the extra kilos in my luggage, the ground staff told me that I could just take my shoe-tcase (suitcase, geddit? lollll I crack myself up), to the cabin with me. Excellenttttt! Maybe it was because I was early, or maybe it was because I'm petite and it wouldn't have made a difference weight-wise on the plane, but who the heck cares? As long as they didn't ask me to pay or take stuff out my luggage, I'm perfectly satisfied.

Imagine my surprise as my plane took off for Hong Kong that my seatmate didn't arrive. Yay! More room to stretch in during that gruelling 12-hour flight!

As I was walking out of the plane and towards the terminals in Hong Kong airport, several Chinese ground staff were hollering for people taking the next Manila flight. I then noticed my name printed out on a bulletin board behind them. I became nervous for a moment, because I'd thought I'm going to be questioned by Immigration or something. It's a paranoid thought, I know!

Imagine my shock when one of the ladies handed me a new boarding pass which had BUSINESS CLASS stamped on it.

Oh happy day!!! I'd been upgraded!

So how does flying business class feel like? Let me just show you.

The best thing about it is the privacy and the amazing leg room. *sigh* All you can see are your neighbours' feet, though. Not exactly a pretty sight, but so what, eh?

And your seat may be customised in a myriad of ways through buttons on the bottom right corner of the photo. I've never seen such a complicated chair in my life!

I guess you'd be too comfortable to even bother looking out the window -- because you can't.

You get proper glasses, napkins and cutlery during mealtimes, unlike the cheap plastic ones you get in economy.

And you can put your feet up the whole flight. Blisssss.

The trouble is, the flight from Hong Kong to Manila only takes less than 2 hours -- which is barely enough time to enjoy the whole experience. Bummer, I know. I can only wish this happens every time I take a long-haul flight!

JK Rowling's announcement that all Harry Potter fans have been dying to hear all week --

After listening to that, it seems like a grand idea! But it makes me think that Pottermore can also become the craziest online world ever -- as if the books aren't enough! October seems so far away now.

I believe a lot of you have not seen the movie The Seven Year Itch, but I'm pretty sure that you are all familiar with this scene from that movie.

It's just so iconic. It had put Marilyn Monroe in the forefront of modern pop culture. It doesn't mean that she can act, but she is pretty darn sexy on top of that subway vent.

So can you believe that that dress had been sold to the tune of $5.6 MILLION?! Flippin' amazing.

It was apparently part of actress Debbie Reynolds' collection of film costumes and props which, incidentally, included the Audrey Hepburn's dress during the horse race scene in My Fair Lady. It makes me wonder of Reynolds had known long before that these dresses will be worth a fortune decades after the movies were first shown.

Maybe I should start looking for the original Darna costume of Vilma Santos... it might just be the investment of a lifetime. Hehehe.

It feels so good to be updated with movie releases! Being in the UK has deprived me of one of my favourite pastimes for three months that I'm relieved to get back to it!

Ever since I've found out that Ryan Reynolds was chosen for the role of the Green Lantern, I vowed not to miss this film. I'd been a fan of his since watching Definitely Maybe and The Proposal (wow, from rom-coms to superhero -- whodathunkit?!). Ok, I admit... I kinda ogled his naked self in a scene in The Proposal and that's how he earned my admiration. Not for his acting, but for his buff hunky-ness. (What, I'm a red-blooded female!)

I have to say, the movie's got some cool CGI, costumes and action scenes. Can I say that my favourite scene involved Reynolds floating supine with nothing but underwear on? Hahaha!

Seriously though, I quite liked how the script is a little lighthearted and not too cheesy, but I'm afraid that I don't care much for Blake Lively. Her performance leaves something to be desired. Also, despite the coolness factor that the movie effortlessly induces, there's still that element of "Is that it?" feeling that I noticed when the credits rolled.

That's the reason it bombed at the box office, perhaps?

I don't care if the movie flopped, here's your ring back. I'm laughing all the way to the bank, anyway.

As some people would have known by now, I've arrived back in Manila last week. Coming from a place that considers 19°C as tropical weather, baking in 30-33°C here all of last week was a definite shock to my system!

Thank goodness for the rain we've been getting for the last few days or I probably would die of dehydration. I was gulping gallons of water like I could drink for the whole country and I had been annoyed for being unable to take my usual teas and coffees while working. I was sweating like I'd been running a marathon and all my things were piping hot even if they were inside the house!

I keep looking at myself in the mirror and thought about how horrible I looked with all the gross sweat marks I'd been making on my shirts. Thank goodness I didn't have to get out of the house for work or I wouldn't survive the embarrassment!

And because I want to convince myself it's human to sweat, here's a parade of sweaty celebrities!

I don't know whether to look at the sweaty pits or her highbeaming nipples. G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S.

Adverts at the cinema can be a pain. I really wish they'd just get on with it and show the movie already. Last night, however, I was happy to have seen the advert of a previously unheard of energy drink.

Sometimes life lessons can be learned even when you're just sitting down, waiting for a film to come on. Life certainly is interesting.

The following is the full text from the advert (I didn't write it, just making that clear) --

I have virtues, which others may deem vices -- virtues which guide me and together, have made me. I embrace pain, suffering and sacrifice, and gain strength from obsession. It is true; they have given me scars that I know will never fade. But for that, I am grateful. Because they show me what is within me and what is within reach of me.

And through all of this, I live each day without compromise, without regret and without excuse. So as I endure the misfortune which lies in my path, I chase down my vision without diversion or retreat. And in the pursuit of my passions, I am neither timid nor afraid. I am relentless… and I will accept no half measures.

I'm coming towards the end of my England trip (almost 11 weeks now) and have only now realised that I hadn't even written about the place I'm living in!

I'm not staying in London, like most people thought. My aunt lives in a small village in Leicestershire (pronounced "les-ter-shir", if that makes sense), about an hour's train ride north of London. Everyone knows each other here and I've become such a regular fixture over the years that people here think I live here.

So what does one usually see in a small English village?

Some big houses.

Some lovely trees.

Some lovely old churches.

Some sheep.

I'm in love with my black & white photo of this park chairs outside the local playground. Hehe.

Sometimes you see small bridges.

If you're lucky enough, there might be a manor house just outside the village.

Mostly there are fields with grazing cattle...

...Or farms. This one is planted with rapeseed, I think.

A quiet village is a great escape, especially for a city girl like me.

Slacking off from posting again! This just won't do! (I don't know why I keep scolding myself -- maybe it just proves that I have masochistic tendencies or something).

A busted computer had put me off writing posts, unfortunately. But I really need to get myself out of this rut, so I've decided to post something random... like a slideshow of the photos I've taken of spring blooms!